hushed

The next DZ release is in production, and it's one I'm really excited to have worked on - it feels great to finally collaborate with a local artist that I've enjoyed seeing for quite some time. Big Hush play patient shoegaze folk sentiments, with crystalline vocal harmonies piercing through three layers of fuzzy sepia-toned guitar. Hazy rock melodies washed in sunburnt distortion flow through all four tracks, blanketing your ears in an enigmatic overdrive like a warm breeze enveloping your outstretched hand while cruising windows-down on an open road in the mid-afternoon. Dreamy and seductive, this release will have you feeling somewhere between a comatose kitten and a hypnotized house plant.

You can stream the title track from the Wholes EP below, and a run of 100 pro-dubbed cassettes are due for release on November 4.

Those of you in the DC area looking to catch a live glimpse of the band can see them this Friday, September 26 at the Communiverse with label friends Wildhoney and Two Inch Astronaut. A few other DZ jaunts are also lined up for the near future: In Chicago, where I'll be for the next week, Pool Holograph will be playing at Phyllis' Musical Inn on September 27 (Cassette Store Day!) and again at Township on September 29. Back in the district I'll be hosting DC maniacal funkwits Foul Swoops and high-speed chasers Thee Lolitas, Baltimore power couple Romantic States, and Boston pickle punks Halfsour on October 5 at the Dougout. Click the flyers below for more details about each show, and keep your eyes peeled for more from DZ14 in the near future.

Cassette Store Day

Today is the first ever Cassette Store Day, and while the debate remains open as to whether this will be good or bad for the format and the industry, I'm finding it hard to contain my excitement. Stores from around the world will be releasing exclusive tapes from favorites like Deerhunter, Spectrals, Animal Collective, Teen Suicide, Gold Panda, and many others.

To celebrate, all downloads and merch in the DZ store will be marked off 20% this weekend by using the code "CSD" at checkout. And when your eyeballs have a free moment, take a look at these quick reads discussing some of the pros and cons of this new musical holiday.

I also want to thank the dudes at Tabs Out and Ad Hoc for the kind words on DYVNZMBR2, saying it "runs the gamut of electronic music, from glitched-out beats to feedback-laden buzzsaw drones and lo-fi downtempo hazers. It’s like a huge sandwich that’s too big to get your mouth around so you gotta take it home and cut it up cause you and I both know if you even try it, that shit's falling out of the bread and landing in your lap."